


Midnight Oil

by thegraeyone



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Late at Night, M/M, Short & Sweet, but i'm going to forgive myself because i softened it as much as possible, i broke my own rule and made joey a KC test subject, seto's tired, they're both stupid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:28:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23624617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegraeyone/pseuds/thegraeyone
Summary: Joey knew going into this particular project, that Kaiba is both taskmaster and perfectionist. Joey isn't one hundred percent sure why he agreed to play lab rat to Kaiba's testing conditions. Probably Yugi's big eyes and a fat paycheck at the end of it.Now it's their third all-nighter in a row, and Joey just wants to sleep.
Relationships: Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kaiba Seto
Comments: 11
Kudos: 106





	Midnight Oil

**Author's Note:**

> This is also from a kiss prompt meme that I've dug up again. The original prompt was "I've been watching you all night", and I wanted to do something a little different with an obviously saucy idea.

Joey's eyes ache as he fiddles with the VR headset. It's shiny and white with the ice blue KC stamped on its side. He's been here, in the basement of KaibaCorp, since the sun was still up. He can't tell the time down here, in the basement R&D labs, but his phone tells him it's past two in the morning. His head falls back, and he thinks he'll pass out right here, laying sideways in one of the specially designed chairs that sit at every desk. He looks over at Kaiba, who's still making notes on his tablet. Yugi bailed hours ago (looking at his phone and saying "Grandpa needs me" when Joey knows the old man can't send a text to save his life), and Joey wishes he'd taken the opportunity to flee with him. They both knew going into this particular project, that Kaiba is both taskmaster and perfectionist. Joey isn't one hundred percent sure why he agreed to play lab rat to Kaiba's testing conditions. Probably Yugi's big eyes and a fat paycheck at the end of it.

“Hey, Kaiba,” Joey says, and it’s not enough to stir him from his work. “Don’t you think it’s time we call it quits?”

Kaiba's head remains ducked down and his expression focused. Joey's gotten used to seeing him like this since they started working on the new game, but tonight an extra layer of exhaustion makes dark circles on his face. His usual severity is dulled. He looks less like Seto Kaiba, egomaniac overlord, and more like a tired programmer triple checking that last line of code.

He's looked like that for the past three nights, but tonight is worse somehow. Joey is absolutely pleased to look at something that isn't the blinding light of the VR helmet (he's talked to Kaiba about the eye strain a hundred times and gets a low hum in response), and after each test he's used the opportunity to sit back and watch Kaiba. In Yugi he recognizes exhaustion easily, and he saw that peaking after the last of the KaibaCorp employees clocked out for the day, but in Kaiba the change is subtle. He goes from goal oriented boss to frustrated programmer to quiet and sullen over the course of the evening. After one, he hasn't said much more than a few words to Joey. The white light coming off his tablet makes his skin look even paler. His jacket was shed hours ago, and it's draped over some heavy duty looking equipment. Without it he looks almost naked.

"Hey, Kaiba," Joey says again, and again it earns no response. He stretches before he walks to Kaiba's side, where he easily slides the tablet out of his lax grip. That gets his attention.

"I'm not finished," Kaiba says, and none of his usual bite is in his tone. That's almost distressing. If he can't even wrangle up a decent insult, then he must be tired.

"How early do you get up?" Joey asks. "You should sleep."

His frown deepens the worry lines that marr his face. "Another all-nighter doesn't matter."

"It does if you do it every night." Joey holds the tablet out of his reach. "Me and Yugi'll be back here tomorrow. You can run us ragged then."

"I need to finish--"

"Kaiba," he says, sternly, like he's talking to his baby sister (even though she's twenty now and wouldn't take that tone from him even if she wasn't). "Come here."

Kaiba stands slowly, wobbling just a little as he does. Joey wonders the last the time he got a decent amount of sleep. Probably never. He's still taller than Joey (just by a little, and rumor is he wears lifts, though neither he nor Yugi can confirm it), and he could probably wrestle the tablet from him, but he doesn't. He stands there, blue eyes bleary. Joey sets the tablet down on the table and brings his hands to Kaiba's face. He doesn't move away. Instead, Kaiba blinks sleepily and leans into him. Joey's surprised suddenly how much he's gotten used to Kaiba since they've all grown up. How much seeing him in the stark light of the KaibaCorp basement doesn't compare to the warmth of some restaurant as they drag him to a late night meal. How his memories of Kaiba's cold indifference are replaced with sleepy faces and sharp commentaries. How he doesn't look so guarded anymore, and he laughs a little easier, and he lets Joey touch him like this without hesitation or derision.

"Alright," Joey says, and he smiles at him. "Let's get you to bed."

"Not yet," Kaiba insists, but his eyes close as Joey keeps scratching a hand into his hair. "A few more minutes with the data we've gathered--"

"You can barely keep your eyes open."

"Wheeler--"

"Kaiba," he says. "Come on."

And he must be tired too, because what he does next he does without thinking. He's sat up with Serenity a thousand times as they reconnected, and he pulls Kaiba towards him, placing a kiss on his forehead. As soon as he does it, he jerks back, removing his hands from Kaiba's face. Kaiba blinks at him.

"Sorry," he says with a short chuckle. "That was weird."

Kaiba doesn't say anything for a minute. Joey's catalogued most of Kaiba's faces at this point, from tired indignity to the wide cackle of success to the roll of his eyes when the two of them get off track, but this expression is new. There's something strangely vulnerable there, and his lips part. His hand touches the soft skin of Joey's neck, his thumb guiding his chin up, and Joey swallows. Kaiba dips his head down, and the touch of his lips is light and unsure. Joey isn't sure how to react. He's not convinced he hasn't fallen asleep and this is a very god dream. But Kaiba pulls back, and Joey's eyes open to see his brows drawn together, but the lines of his face are smoothing out as he starts to relax.

A smile starts to stretch across Joey's face. Kaiba looks away with fond annoyance.

"Wow," Joey says.

He lets out a puff of air. "I should not have--"

"Wow!" Joey leans in to catch his gaze. "How long have you been holding that in?"

"You're under contract and--"

"Kaiba," he says. "If you wanted a date, all you had to do was ask."

"I was going to wait," Kaiba says. "Your contract is up in two weeks. If I still felt a need to act on it then maybe..."

Joey laces his fingers in his, and he momentarily falls quiet. If this is all it took to stop one of his speeches, Joey figures he should've been employing it way sooner.

"If you wanna go on a date," he says, "we're both gonna need a night off."

"Now it just feels like you're trying to get out of work," Kaiba says, but he's smiling.

Joey shakes his head. "We should talk about this when we're actually awake, huh?"

"As good an argument for getting me to sleep as any." Kaiba slips from his grasp to gather his things. "We can discuss it more in the morning."

He puts on his coat, and they walk out of KaibaCorp together. Joey accepts the ride home from Kaiba, and the two share an awkward goodnight with the promise to chat after a full night's rest. For now, Joey's tired but elated, and he's got half a text written out to Yugi before he collapses on his bed and is off to sleep.


End file.
